On Friday, Trump had tweeted: "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!"

"Representatives of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, have quietly contacted high-powered criminal lawyers about potentially representing him in the wide-ranging investigation into Russia's influence on the 2016 election, according to three people briefed on the matter,"The New York Timesreported".

Cohen said the first official communication that a target is under investigation typically comes when prosecutors begin requesting documents and other evidence. In fact, to the contrary. Jay Sekulow, best known for his role as the head of TV preacher Pat Robertson's legal group, appeared on several Sunday shows in his capacity as a leading member of Trump's defense team.

Mueller and Comey both worked in the Bush administration and were involved in a dispute over whether Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft should reauthorize a post-9/11 domestic surveillance program. On Fox, it got heated with the host, Wallace "I do not appreciate", Sekulow said, "you putting words in my mouth when I've been crystal clear that the president is not and has not been under investigation". "No, he's not being investigated!"

In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee this month, Comey said that he based his decision to circulate a memo of a conversation between the president and himself off the tweet. Trump confirmed that he was over Twitter, dismissing the inquiry as a witch hunt.

"The president of the United States takes action after receiving a memorandum from his attorney general, a letter actually from his attorney general and memorandum from his deputy attorney general", Sekulow told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.

To indicate that a full scale investigation has been launched, all eyes will be on Rosenstein's actions, as well as evidence of a grand jury subpoenaing key White House aides with a focus on Trump.

Just as Trump called up to congratulate Narendra Modi after the BJP's thumping win in the Uttar Pradesh state elections - which was unprecedented, the White House backlash against H1B and Trump's anti-India rant during the USA pullout of the Paris climate deal are also uniquely Trumpian in terms of political strategy. "But the president does utilize Twitter and social media platforms and, again, the situation on Friday that created the five anonymous sources".

As for the issue of that other interesting tweet, where the President implied he has tapes of his meetings with various people in which he discusses not being under investigation: "This issue will be addressed in due course and I suspect next week". The Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn't sit around all day and read tweets.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said, "The FBI is going to do its job".

Trump essentially confessed that he fired Comey in order to forestall the Russian Federation investigation, telling NBC News interviewer Lester Holt in nationally televised broadcast that "this Russian Federation thing" was among his motivations for firing Comey.

"Trump has a compulsion to counterattack and is very pugnacious", Gingrich said on ABC's This Week. Sekulow spent Monday morning trying to clean up the Wallace interview and maintain that his client isn't being investigated. Mueller's office has taken up that work, and the preliminary interviews scheduled with intelligence officials indicate that his team is actively pursuing potential witnesses inside and outside the government.

At some point, Mueller may wish to interview Federal Bureau of Investigation senior leadership about their meetings with Comey regarding Trump, though it's unclear if this has already taken place.

Trump insists his campaign had nothing to do with Russian efforts to undermine credibility in the USA election.

"If the president thinks he can fire Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and replace him with someone who will shut down the investigation, he's in for a rude awakening", Sen. Robert Mueller, right, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 19, 2013. "And as far as that goes, I'd say we're 20% into it". But it would be the worst form of negligence to our republic for us to say we're going to close the investigation before we can determine whether there is merit to these allegations. He said it could be done "maybe by the end of the year". While the White House was still denying that Trump himself was under any investigation last week, the Washington Post reported that Mueller and company were looking at him for obstruction after all.